Living Non-relative Donor Versus Deceased-Donor Kidney Transplantation: a Comparison of Mental Health for Iranian Recipients

Mental health is a key factor in the evaluation of kidney transplant recipients. It is important to focus on the mental health of kidney transplant recipients from brain-dead donors (DD), which is gradually increasing in Iran, and to compare them with the common method of transplantation in Iran (living non-relative donor (LNRD)). Forty-four participants (26 LNRD, 19 DD) were selected using a purposeful sampling method. The statistical population was all kidney transplant recipients in Kerman from October 2019 to March 2020. The data collection tool was Goldberg General Health Questionnaire, and the information was analyzed by SPSS25 software. The results revealed that mental health and its components, including anxiety, depression, and physical and social functioning in all participants, were significantly lower after the surgery than before the surgery (P = 0.017). The mental health score in kidney transplant recipients from brain-death donors was higher after the surgery before the surgery, indicating the worse mental health status after the surgery in this group (P = 0.052). Depression after surgery in brain-dead transplant recipients was significantly higher than in the living donor recipients (P = 0.05). The study demonstrated that the mental health of patients is better in all components after the kidney transplantation. However, brain-dead post-transplantation recipients experience more depression than living non-relative donor recipients. This finding highlights the need for special attention to be given to the mental health of brain-dead post-transplantation recipients.